Dietician / Thai Lady'S Weight Loss Diet Plan

[corkman]

Hi All,

My Mrs. (Thai) has been trying to loose weight now for a few months. She's been putting in a good effort and has had some results, but now has platau'd and is loosing faith! Her target weight is about 48kg. She was 54-55kg. Got down to about 52kg mainly by going to the gym.

In my opinion, her problem is her diet. She doesn't stuff her face with sweets adn cakes and all that crap, nor cola or soft drinks etc. but everything she eats is fried and with rice. I've encouraged her to look at alternatives but in her view she is doing all she can and I simply don't know enough about the sauces and pastes and all the various ingredients in Thai food to help educate her on the matter.

She has a trainer at the gym, but he's just got her doing more and varied exercises - which of course helps, but it is not enough.

So - does anyone know of a dietician or of a weight loss plan / diet that is suitable for Thai's? I don't mean rediculous and unsustainable 4 weeks crash diets and weight-loss-protien-shakes and all htat nonesense, just some sensible and sustainable advice on food.

Many thanks in advance!

[sbk]

Most Thai food has sugar added during the cooking process. Fried will never be healthy altho it tastes great. Her best option to lose weight is to drop the white rice, if rice she must eat then make it brown rice. Drop all sugar out of her diet and that includes the stuff added to thai food. No fried foods and use a healthy cooking oil when cooking, not palm.

Eat more fresh and steamed vegetables and NOT FRIED chicken etc. You know what she needs to do, its the getting her to understand it thats the hard part. You might consider getting a healthy diet book in Thai and or cookbook so that she understands it coming from an authority.

[danbradster]

Cut down the portion size of rice, it's only carbs.

Go with steamed or boiled chicken over fried chicken.

Try for fresh (steamed, boiled) veges over fried veges.

Cut the sugar from the cooking process, or halve it.

Maybe cook some healthy recipes for her, like steamed lemon fish with herbs rather than sugar fish or fried fish.

If she does the healthy diet and the exercise, she'll make great progress.

What I find funny with Thai girls is that they want to lose muscle so they look skinnier, but then the lack of muscle reduces their metabolism, increasing fat storage... Even incline power walking scares them, they are afraid of gaining muscle, even though incline power walking is an awesome calorie burner.

[corkman]

You might consider getting a healthy diet book in Thai and or cookbook so that she understands it coming from an authority.

Thanks for that sbk. Can you recommend any publications? She is profecient at readying english, so it can be in thai or english - however "Jamie Olivers guide to THai Cooking" sort of thing wouldn't cut the mustard for a Thai as you probably know.

Thanks

[corkman]

Cut down the portion size of rice, it's only carbs.

Go with steamed or boiled chicken over fried chicken.

Try for fresh (steamed, boiled) veges over fried veges.

Cut the sugar from the cooking process, or halve it.

Maybe cook some healthy recipes for her, like steamed lemon fish with herbs rather than sugar fish or fried fish.

If she does the healthy diet and the exercise, she'll make great progress.

What I find funny with Thai girls is that they want to lose muscle so they look skinnier, but then the lack of muscle reduces their metabolism, increasing fat storage... Even incline power walking scares them, they are afraid of gaining muscle, even though incline power walking is an awesome calorie burner.

Portion size - doable

Steamed / boiled meat - doable, however she is then gonna dip that is some kind of mushy pastey sauce type stuff???

Steamed / boiler veg. - already doing it

Sugar - compared to most, she's quite good there.

To be honest your advice is well recevied and much appreciated, but we / I know alot of this stuff already. Moreover, Thai's love their food in a way that us westerners will never comprehend. When I compare the type and quanitity of food that my Mrs. eats to that of the many other thai people that I know it realy seems that she doesn't do too much wrong (relatively) - which is why I blieve she needs to see a professional who will tell her the do's and don'ts specifc to her metabolism and specific to Thai ingredients. For example, I think by the time you take things like kao-man-gai (chick over rise) or suki-heng (like suki-yaki without the water) then dip or pour large amounts of various sauces over it, then its no better then pad-thai...... this may seem a simple matter but there are 8 different sauces lined up on our kitchen counter and another half dozen under the counter and I suspect the "badness" of these range from generally ok to terrible.

Suggesting to my Mrs. that she starts eating plain chicken and plain rice, is akin to you and I eating dry bread and water, with some lettuce to add flavour...... (nutritionally that's a silly comparison, but she would find it that band). I find this all very frustrating because I cannot read Thai and therefore cannot search for her, and she is not very computer literate and so cannot search for herself...... and the western stuff is all just not applicable to your average thai - just as sun dried raw fish and a nice bowl of stinky brown water bamboo soup is not to us...... haha

My father struggled to lose weight for several years and was finally referred to a dietician after which he lost nearly 20kgs by making what I felt were some very modest changes to his diet...... and it wasn't just generic stuff like drink less alcohol and eat less chips. A western dietician (unless living here in Thailand their entire life) is not going to be of much use because they have been educated in terms of western foods and western body's...... so I was hoping for recommendations for a Thai one.

Regarding the muscle - haha, I dont think that has even occured to her yet! LOL She just wants to lose belly fat, primarily. At 155cm and say 52kg thats a BMI of 21.6 - so she's not exactly a "chunky mamma", and to her credit whilst she would prefer not to be muscley (like most woemn) she does not aspire to be super skinny (Thai super skinny). Her target weight is 48kg which is a BMI of 20, and even adjusted for Asian's that is still a healthy weight to be. Again, I am sure a proper dietician could advise on which foods (i.e. Thai foods, most specifically Thai recipes, or specific [as oppose to generic] ingredients thereof) go straight to the belly and hips, and which ones are easier to metabolise and burn off.

Many thanks for your reply and the discussion.

Edited August 14, 2011 by corkman

[LJW]

I would suggest that she cut all of her food in half, ie, instead of a full plate of rice, make it half a plate.

Find some excercise she likes, like swimming. I lost 150 kilos doing this in Thailand

[meatboy]

i had to loose 20kilos before i had heart surgery,i did most of whats been suggested but one of the main thing that helped me loose weight was not to eat after 5pm.if you feel you need to, stick to fruit,i lost 25kilos and after 3years i eat what i want up to 5pm.and still keep my weight.

[mongo1936]

She should discuss her weight and a proper diet with a Thai dietician.

The Theptarin Hospital in Bangkok has a special program designed for diabetics.

They have a well qualified dietician who will spend all the needed time to explain to her what she needs to know and follow, and which foods and sauces and serving sizes are appropriate for her and her goals.

She need not be diabetic to talk with their dietician, and a diet designed for diabetics is a good diet for anyone.

I believe that all diets need to be combined with an appropriate exercise regimen to be truly effective. It seems that she is doing that pat.

[bikerlou47]

If you(she) is serious about the last l0 lbs contact me.

Most all the replies here do not apply because it is not the last 10 lbs

[corkman]

She should discuss her weight and a proper diet with a Thai dietician.

The Theptarin Hospital in Bangkok has a special program designed for diabetics.

They have a well qualified dietician who will spend all the needed time to explain to her what she needs to know and follow, and which foods and sauces and serving sizes are appropriate for her and her goals.

She need not be diabetic to talk with their dietician, and a diet designed for diabetics is a good diet for anyone.

I believe that all diets need to be combined with an appropriate exercise regimen to be truly effective. It seems that she is doing that pat.

Thanks to everyone for your replies.

Mango - any idea of approximate consultants fee's?

[Chonburiram]

i had to loose 20kilos before i had heart surgery,i did most of whats been suggested but one of the main thing that helped me loose weight was not to eat after 5pm.if you feel you need to, stick to fruit,i lost 25kilos and after 3years i eat what i want up to 5pm.and still keep my weight.

[eslteacher]

As someone else mentioned, cut out the fried foods.

- Cook meat gently ie. steaming, broiling, braising. Avoid cooking meat at high temperatures.

- Same applies to your vegetables.

- She can continue to eat white rice. Im not sure how much she eats it though. If she eats it at every meal, tell her to eat it once a day and not 3x a day. Or even once every 2 days. Something along those lines. And the rice should never be the focal point of the meal. Just a small bowl with the meat and vegetables.

- Avoid snacking.

- Avoid processed, sugary foods. Eat fresh, real food.

- Cook most of the meals at home.